Bourtange, Netherlands
Located in northeast Netherlands, near the German border, Fort Bourtange was built in 1593 as a military fortification to guard the only road connecting Germany and the city of Groningen. Converted into a village in 1851, it retains its iconic pentagonal shape and geometric street pattern. Today, the entire site serves as a museum, preserving its historical and architectural significance.

Palmanova, Italy
Palmanova, which lies in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Built by the Venetians to defend the Republic’s northeast border, it is a quintessential example of a Renaissance star fortress and is one of the largest and best preserved geometric towns. Palmanova’s radial design extends from a central hexagonal square, the ‘Piazza del Duomo’, with concentric rings crossed by straight avenues. This internal area is surrounded by a star-shaped double perimeter of fortifications.

Almeida, Portugal
Situated on a high plain in northeast Portugal, close to the Spanish border, lies the fortress of Almeida. It played a crucial role in defending Portugal’s border during its early years of independence. As seen in the image, its old town is surrounded by striking star-shaped ramparts.

Neuf-Brisach, France
Located in the Alsace region of France near the German border, Neuf-Brisach was built in 1697 on the French side of the Rhine, after the loss of Breisach on the opposite bank. The town’s name ‘Neuf’, meaning new in French, reflects its origins. Designed for both civilian and military use, Neuf-Brisach has a central octagonal layout with streets arranged in a square grid. It is part of the UNESCO listed network of fortifications created by Louis XIV’s famed engineer, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2024/12/Earth_from_Space_Star_cities

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastion_fort

  • merde alors
    44·
    7 days ago

    un “fort” is not a “city”, neither a town. There are towns with ex-forts as centers, but even they don’t call these ex-fortresses “towns”

    better?

    Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes (“lieu dit” or “bourg”), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers.

    A town is a type of a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.

    A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town

    village sounds more appropriate for these settlements?

      • merde alors
        36·
        7 days ago

        luckily, i’m on sh.itjust.works and not in u.s. :)

        thanks for the info

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      7 days ago

      Why is village more appropriate based on the definition ‘towns are larger than villages but smaller than cities and the criteria to distinguish them varies?’

      And why is the precise word the important thing to you here?

      • merde alors
        35·
        7 days ago

        the title says “european cities”, it’s misleading, confusing, not true

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldOP
          3·
          7 days ago

          Do you think anyone here saw those pictures and thought they were metropolises the size of Paris or do you think maybe you’re making way too big a deal out of this?

          • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            2·
            6 days ago

            In some cultures, there is a much bigger emphasis on the exact classification of a settlement. It is part of the identity of the settlement and the people who live there.

            In other places, everything is a city.

            The French guy might come from a place like me where people take offense if you call their commune a village, and everyone knows and agrees that a particular place is a small town, a large town, a small city or a large city.

            One of my wife’s more distant relatives called the place my parents live in, a small town, a village. It’s still something everyone remembers, even though it was more of a gaffe, less of an insult.